OS X Mountain Lion Bible

Using and Managing the Launchpad

The Launchpad provides a one-stop shop for all the applications on your Mac, using the concept of home screens popularized on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. To open the Launchpad, just click its icon in the Dock or use the four-finger pinch gesture on a compatible touchpad (using your thumb and three fingers). Your screen is taken over by a blank background with application icons on it, as Figure 7.2 shows. Click an icon to launch the app.

If you decide not to launch an app, press Esc to close the Launchpad, click an icon in the Dock, or use the four-finger expand gesture (using your thumb and three fingers).

Tip

You also can set up OS X to open the Launchpad through clicks on corners of the screen. Chapter 27 explains how to set such hot corners in the Mission Control system preference.

The first home screen lists the applications that Apple installs along with OS X. Note that this home screen also has an icon for the Utilities folder; click it to open the folder's contents so you can select one of its apps, as Figure 7.3 shows. (Click outside the folder or press Esc to close it.)

The other home screens list the rest of your applications from the Applications folder, Utilities folder, and folders contained in them (including aliases to folders) in essentially random order. Note that you may see Windows applications listed in addition to OS X applications if you're using a program such as Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion that lets you run ...